In the drilling and completion industry, the formation of boreholes for the purpose of production or injection of fluid is common. The boreholes are used for exploration or extraction of natural resources such as hydrocarbons, oil, gas, water, and alternatively for CO2 sequestration.
It is sometimes necessary to connect, disconnect, and/or reconnect various components of tools within a borehole in the downhole environment. When control lines are provided in the separate components, they must be reconnected by connectors on each separate component so as to provide a common pathway. Some downhole hydraulic connectors rely on a spring reinforced poppet to resist the encroachment of wellbore fluids into the control line when the components are separated, however this method is limited in pressure differential by the force of the spring holding the poppet in place. Once the hydrostatic pressure overcomes the spring, borehole fluid will leak into the control line. Other downhole hydraulic connectors supply virtually no borehole fluid protection at all and simply allow the fluid access to the control line. This may not be desirable depending on the borehole fluid and the internal make up of the tools to which the control line is attached. As an alternative to allowing borehole fluid encroachment, another method involves running a lower string while mated to an upper tool string with control line all the way to surface in order to maintain a positive pressure balance on the control line.
The art would be receptive to improved apparatus and methods for downhole wet connectors that address the hydraulic control lines attached to such connectors.